President Saakashvili called on OSCE member countries not to circumvent Georgia’s territorial problems. The statement was made at Astana Summit on December 1. The President claimed that so called frozen conflicts pose a threat to stability in the Region. However, he believes that progress is achievable in this sphere. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to resolve them if you turn away from them”, Saakashvili stated.
Georgian President addressed the Summit participants saying that a part of Georgia’s territories is still

occupied. “20% of our land is controlled by over 12 000 Russian soldiers by means of tanks, rockets, heavy artillery. This is a violation of Helsinki principles, Istanbul Declaration and 2008 Cease-fire Agreement. If we neglect these principles, this organization will perish, and if we fulfill them, we’ll achieve considerable progress and become a real instrument of security with trust, sympathy and sense of mutual interests. These statements are to be fulfilled”, Saakashvili stated.He also added that Russia neglected his responsibilities concerning not only Georgia, but other countries as well, having increased illegal troops deployed within the internationally recognized Georgian State border. = Russia will not support formulations in the final documents of OSCE Summit about the conflict in Georgia’, - head of Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov told journalists. ‘We are ready to actively support the efforts of Geneva discussions, but we can’t agree that the discussions are dedicated to the ‘conflicts in Georgia’, as some of our western colleagues propose,’ Lavrov said. Lavrov mentioned that in so called Geneva talks, where Russia, Council of Europe, USA, OSCE and UN act as mediators, Abkhazia and South Ossetia take part as equal participants of the process along with Georgia. The minister says that the fact of rightful participation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the negotiations confirms their status as independent states. ‘Territorial integrity of Georgia in previous borders is ruled out,’ Lavrov said. The two-day OSCE Summit commenced in Astana on December 1. A final declaration will be adopted during the Summit. Georgian conflicts will presumably be one of the issues discussed at the Summit. = Mikheil Saakashvili met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Astana. ‘She reiterated open support for Georgia; specifically, she named it a strategic partner of USA and the desire of White House of future cooperation. Hillary Clinton underscored that USA supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. She also emphasized OSCE’s role in Georgia’s conflict resolution and spoke about the necessity of European monitors to be allowed into the territory of Georgia. Hillary Clinton called on OSCE member states to reinforce the organization’s endeavor to solve the current conflicts’, the statement of Presidential Administration reads. US Secretary of State thanked the President of Georgia for his new peaceful initiative, voiced by him at the European Parliament. =Businessmen who invest in the construction of hotels in Anaklia, Samegrelo region, will enjoy special privileges, - Mikheil Saakashvili declared at the meeting with potential investors in Anaklia on November 30.According to Saakashvili, the businessmen who build hotels in Anaklia will be exempted from property and profit taxes for 15 years. ‘We will give land to investors free of charge; we will provide all kinds of communications; we will build road; we are launching construction of Anaklia-Zugdidi airport. In addition, we will exempt everybody, who builds hotels in Anaklia, from property and profit taxes for the next15 years’, Saakashvili said.According to him, the term for submission of applications expires in January, while construction should be completed by the spring of 2012.= WikiLeaks website will publish 1167 more documents on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The world is in new turmoil after the publication of WikiLeaks materials, foreign press reports.1735 documents will be published on Armenia, while 1569 will be published on Azerbaijan and 1167 - on Georgia. WikiLeaks published thousands of secret documents on November 29. The documents concerned correspondence and meetings between US diplomats after the Georgia-Russia war. = South Ossetia will get 6.8 billion rubles from Russia next year, - Eduard Kokoity, de facto president of South Ossetia, said in his interview with Reuter. The money will be spent mainly on construction works, Kokoity said.In addition, Tskhinvali will be granted the right to determine itself, like Moscow, how to spend the funds. According to Kokoity, so called Finance Ministry of S. Ossetia will conduct monitoring over the funds. As to the construction works, they will be supervised by Russian Vice Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov= According to the Tbilisi City Assembly resolution of November 28, municipal transport fare will climb up to 50 tetri from December 6.The issue was raised on the session by head of Tbilisi Transport service Akaki Jokhadze, which was followed by an acute dispute over the issue. Majority of City Assembly supported increase of transport fares, explaining the act by the high price for fuel. = A gunman in an Afghan dressed in a police uniform killed six US servicemen in eastern Afghanistan on November 30. The man opened fire during a training mission in Pachir Wagam District, Nangarhar province, said a NATO spokesman. The U.S. officials later confirmed that all six were Americans, but declined to give further details.= Under the aegis of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia, a group of Georgian journalists left for Afghanistan last week. During two weeks representatives of Georgian media will be able to get familiar with the mission of Georgian servicemen in ISAF operation. They will visit the Georgian Company stationed in Kabul and then spend two weeks together with the members of the 32nd Battalion serving in Helmand Province. Media representative received special instructions and accreditation before their departure to Afghanistan. =Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Illia ll presented Placido Domingo with gilded silver tree.The famous tenor met Illia ll after the concert in Batumi last week.Placido Domingo performed along with famous Georgian opera singers. They sang a Megrelian (western Georgian) song together.The concert attended by more than 2 000 spectators was a charitable event and the proceeds were donated to charitable fund Iavnana (lullaby).Before leaving Georgia, Placido Domingo said he was inspired by Georgia and expressed hope to return soon.\

Recently it has become known that before the Parliamentary elections all offices of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream, including his business centre, was spied on, their phone lines bugged and email boxes scanned. It turns out that for almost one year a powerful CCTV camera was operating from the highest illuminated TV tower of the capital.

Large-scale children Institutions, or Post-Soviet orphanages, are being closed and turned gradually into the Small Group Homes (SGH), as we were writing in previous issues. However, this article is about the positive initiative of the Foundation Natakhtari and Association “Our House-Georgia” s joint project “Care for Future”, whose main aim is to care for the orphans and those who lack the parental care and help them to get prepared to the independent life.

Chief Manager of Geocell Osman Turan will move to work in Nepal. Osman Turan said at a press conference at Tbilisi Marriott hotel today, that by the decision of the Turkish company “Teliasonera” , he’ll continue work in Nepal.

Recently, Georgian National Museum hosted an extraordinary exhibition. Together with the British Council and as a matter of fact, on its initiative, the exhibition called “Reconstruction: Cultural Heritage and the Making Contemporary Fashion”.

No one knows about possible new incarnation of former so called pro-governmental TV companies Imedi TV, Rustavi 2, Real TV and PIK. Experts suppose that these companies would emerge as carriers of different interests for various political groups.

"Constitutional security and special operative Departments will be abolished and other structures of MIA will carry out their functions", candidate for Minister of Internal Affairs Irakli Gharibashvili said during the joint session of legal issues and human rights committees of parliament.

Candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze doesn’t rule out the possibility of changing the format of Georgia’s participation in the Afghanistan mission in 2014 and also the number of the contingent.

We, people, are not enemies to each other, but we are each other's political rivals, the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, said in his speech at the first session of the new parliament."This campaign was tough and obscene from all sides, but now you're representing the whole nation. Earlier it was time for campaign and competition, now it's the time to work in order to improve agriculture and develop democracy. Besides, we have to work together on issues of territorial integrity", he said.The president wished the majority "not only not to worsen or destroy anything", but also to keep promises given to people. As for the minority, the president wished them to be constructive."This does not mean that we should forget the difference in our views or that we should agree with each other on everything. We have different positions on a range of issues, including crime, fight against corruption, economy and foreign policy," he said.

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission and Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, made the following statement: